Waeco/mobicool

[Gary820]

Been looking at fridge options and came across waeco/mobicool fr35. Reviews seem good and seems to be a budget version of the cf range. Proper compressor fridge.
Anyone any experience with them?
Can get new for less then £300.
I'm not driving across Africa but camping with the family and running off a leisure battery over a weekend.

http://www.mobicool.com/en/product/fr35/

 

[Chris]

Gary, I have two of the Waeco Cool Freeze (CF) range and I'm struggling to see the difference between those and this Mobicool unit in terms of function and spec. I've been very pleased with mine and found the consumption to be good. In Morocco they each pulled an average of 1 amp per hour. I ran one as a fridge and one as a freezer. The spec doesn't actually say what they pull once down to temp; might be worth googling that. 4 amps running and obviously 0 when not.

Now from what I understand the earlier models like mine ran with a Danfoss compressor and newer units don't use that anymore. There has been a sort of backlash against that as the Danfoss unit its legendary. I'm guessing it's an argument for purists. Cold is cold and if your food is fresh then it's done its job hasn't it. I found the 35l surprisingly accommodating actually. You can get a lot in there. If you don't ram it full of beer there's even space for something to eat as well!

 

[Gary820]

Thanks for the reply Chris, spec I found was 45w power when running so about 3.75A. Not horrendous I'd say, won't be on all day. A lot of campsites we go to have hook up for tenting too so not always running 12v.

One review I found was someone saying same internals as their old CF just a cheaper housing.

Found one company selling for £239.95 down from £500! Add a transport bag and I think it might be a go. Worry about a drop slide later.

 

[Chris]

The bag is worth having Gary but good luck finding one in the uk
I searched for over a year and in the end got one from the US
49L yes but 35 no. If you can get a 40l version it's worth it just to get the bag cheaper !

 

[Gary820]

Well I've ordered one @ £239.95 so will know in a few days what it's like will stick it in the kitchen on a 105ah agm battery and see how long it runs.
Bag I'll worry about if my set up will need it.
I'll figure how to mount it later too, few changes happening with the 80 so won't be ordering a mount just yet

 

[MarkW]

that's a nice price, keep us updated on how it performs

 

[Gary820]

I will do. Estimated delivery is tues/wed next week so I'll make sure I've got a charged battery to test it, if it'll run for a couple of days it's a win.

 

[Gary820]

Knock at the door today and it was the courier with my new fridge. Was dispatched Monday for 48 hour delivery so very pleased. £239.50 including delivery from e bay.

Plugged into the mains and gets down to temp quickly, set to 2 degrees, compressor cut out at 2, display then showed 0 after a few mins.

I've put some room temperature bottles in and temp went up, compressor cut in and soon started to cool back down.
Hardly any noise, it makes less noise then our main fridge.

It's now connected to a 110 Ah agm battery to see how it runs. I've set the battery guard to low (10.1v)
So far impressed

 

[Chris]

Sweet. Nice unit GAry. Looks no different to the 'other' version really. Like I say, cold is cold. Who cares how you get there. Look on e bay for some Fridge Fresh whatsits. About £2. Keeps it from smelling when not being used.

 

[Gary820]

Good tip I'll get some (we use in the main fridge)
It'll stand a couple of 2 litre bottles as the lid is moulded for them, plenty space for what we need.

Been looking at options for bags, can get one for the cfx35 waeco unit, which has the vents etc in about the right place for around £80.
if dimensions are about right the cfx bag should do the job. Will see how it gets on first though.
Just going to leave in the dining room running 12v for hopefully a couple of days.

Like you say Chris cold is cold. Will be much better then my mini fridge which is a thermoelectric one, runs fine etc but just couldn't keep cold enough when ambient temp increased.


Now to fit the 2nd battery and add some new wiring etc for all the new stuff.

 

[Chris]

I genuinely cannot see what you're getting for £450 ish over what you have there Gary. Other than the wire basket that goes inside. The jackets are really good but I knew getting a 35l would be hard or expensive. I paid slightly less than that importing one from the states. I spoke to Ali & Joe who have the Waeco e bay shop and they told me they just weren't available. Are they worth £80? Hmm. Do they help insulate; yes.

Other than the handle and lid I just cannot see a difference. The handle is far better actually.

 

[Gary820]

Just had a look through the vents, has a wancool compressor fitted so there's some cost saving. I do wonder if the insulation isn't quite as good as the waeco unit too.

Will see how it performs next month camping before deciding on a bag.

 

[Gary820]

Well 30 hours and still running no problem, sat with bottled water in at 0 degrees. Will probably never run that long without the 80 being driven. Pulls 4.2A when compressor is on and next to nothing when off (temp display stays on)

As a question...what temp do people generally set the temp to for fridge use?

Going to decrease temp later and see what it does too.

 

[Chris]

Gary, having put a thermometer in there, I find that the temperature varies hugely around the inside of the fridge when filled. When the display says it's 4 deg, it will be, somewhere. Obviously it's colder at the bottom. 4 degrees is chilled. That what you need for dairy, milk etc. But I find that my Waecos and my Nat Luna seem to give me that when set for about 0 degrees. The real test is to keep dropping the temp gradually until things at different levels actually begin to freeze. If it says it's -2 and a glass of water is still water not ice then it's not -2 is it! You can also arrange things in the fridge so that more temp tolerant things are at the bottom delicate things are at the top. That's what the shelf bit is for.

So set it at 0 and see if it freezes.

 

[Gary820]

Cheers Chris, will be having a play with the settings over next few days (probably on the mains when this battery goes flat)

The thermoelectric fridge I have basically gets cold on the bottom and not much else (hence this purchase) and ice packs were always placed top and bottom in the cool box (won't miss that hassle)

Set at 0 nothing has frozen yet and have to look after the bacon, burgers and sausages when camping with lily, she'll be highly disgruntled if can't have a bacon buttie lol.
I can see me looking after people's beer when we're out next month!

 

[wobbly]

You got a link for ebay?

Im off to France in a few weeks, I have an ambient unit but as you say, no good when outside temp is hot, as Im off to Soain later in year I think one of these could be ideal.

Pete

 

[StarCruiser]

The general recommended temperature for a fridge be it domestic or commercial is 0 to +5. If you're a food establishment and go above +5 then you're in trouble, but this is for the contents not the space they are in which means the fridge could be warmer or cooler for periods but the produce takes a while to alter.

A freezer is generally -18 to -30. Again for produce.

 

[wobbly]

Found it

Had a look for the larger one, 38litre (called a 40). Price is £274.00

Its a solo trip so milk, meat, drinks, disembodied heads will be in it, will 31L be enough, or is bigger always better? I guess the bigger unit will draw more amps, but I would cool it down off the mains first then only open it when needed etc.

http://www.minicoolers.co.uk/products/waeco/fr40.htm

Pete


Edit. Bought the 31L one, looks fine for what I need

Thanks for the tip!

 

[wobbly]

Starcruiser,

I found in Portugal when the temp went up to late 30's the ambient fridge was like 10degrees, not cool at all. On saying that it was cheese and the like in there, and I always use uht milk. In addition, it was blowing warm air into the truck!

Pete

 

[Ben]

I normally have my Engel set at 2-3 degrees and it seems good at that even in 35 degree heat.

Another thing I sometimes do is switch it off before going to bed and then switch it back on in the morning. If its a cold night it only seems to climb a few degrees.

I read a while ago that a full fridge is always more efficient than a half full/empty one and to try and limit how often you open the fridge and let all that nicely cooled air out. So grab all the food out for dinner in one go, or if your getting a drink ask the rest of the family if they want one at the same time etc.

I find mine will run quite happily for 3-4 days running constantly off the 2 batteries, but I'm keen to get a solar panel so I can camp for an unlimited amount of time without running the engine.

Depending on the sort of trips you plan to do, might influence whether you decide to have the fridge bolted in the back of your 80, on a fridge slide for example, or just held in place with straps.

Mine is bolted to my slide which is fine most of the time, but if I was camping in one spot for say a week, it might be nice to be able to lift the fridge out and leave that at the camp with the Mrs while I go off for a drive. Being bolted in makes it much harder to do that.